1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for heating intake air and a carburetor of a dead, cold internal combustion engine by placing the apparatus within the air filter housing of the cold engine. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus wherein the energy from a running engine is transferred to an apparatus that is placed within the air filter housing of a cold engine to heat the intake air and the carburetor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In cold weather, starting an internal combustion engine sometimes requires any of various expedients such as prewarm-up of the engine, an electrical "jump" boost, ether injection into the combustion chamber or even pulling with another vehicle to crank the engine. The extra effort mentioned above, in trying to start a cold engine is the result of not being able to crank the engine fast enough or to warm-up the intake air. The use of an electrical jump start, ether or pull start can all have detrimental effects on a cold engine. Further, more and more new machines are being produced with automatic or power shift transmissions which do not allow pull starting. Electrical head bolt or water jacket heaters or other such alternatives require a source of electricity not always available when using a tractor in the field or a bulldozer on a job site.
The prior art has attempted to solve this problem using various devices for trying to heat the air about to be mixed with the fuel in the carburetor.
The Seederly U.S. Pat. No. 1,185,010, the Spal U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,848 and the Hubert U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,815 show electric heaters which heat the air going into a carburetor. However, neither of the devices in the Seederly, Spal and the Hubert patents would function satisfactorily in a dead, cold engine since the battery used as the source of electrical power to start the engine is, in all probability, too weak to provide sufficient power to the electric heater to warm the air going into the carburetor. Further each of these patents require that the devices be permanently installed in the vehicles.
The Guthre U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,305 shows an arrangement for clamping an engine heater to a car engine. First, the heating device is connected to an ordinary commercial source of power, which may not be available in the field, and second, the device does not heat the air going into the carburetor but apparently heats the block of the engine.
The Scherr U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,095 shows a preheater for an aircraft engine that supplies heated air through hot air ducts into the engine housing of an aircraft, to heat the entire engine. The device of the Scherr Patent would not be practical for a tractor or an automobile.
The Scherenberg U.S.Pat. No. 3,397,684 discloses an arrangement for preheating the combustion air of a diesel engine using a liquid-air heat exchanger for passing the combustion air through the heat exchanger. However, the arrangement of the Scherenberg Patent assumes that the electrical power source, battery, of the vehicle has sufficient power to warm the combustion air. In addition, the arrangement is permanently installed in the automobile.
The Collins U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,728 and the Majkrzak U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,354 , assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, show an arrangement wherein a second vehicle with a running engine exchanges heated cooling fluid with the dead, cold engine of the first vehicle. However, the first vehicle with the dead, cold engine is required to be adapted with proper fittings to accept the heated cooling fluid from the running engine.
Other patents, such as the Southard U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,967, the Hoffman U.S. Pat. No. 3,630.183 and the Lindsey et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,700 show devices having burner-type air preheaters for either heating the intake air to the engine or the cooling fluid in the cooling system. However, all of these patents require the vehicle having the dead, cold engine to have these various devices permanently installed in the vehicle.
Similarly, the Brownell U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,282 shows a device that heats cold intake air through a hot oil bath which is a permanently-installed device in the vehicle with the dead, cold engine.
The Harding U.S. Pat. No. 1,331,061 shows an arrangement that includes an electrical heating element which is attached to the air intake of the carburetor to introduce heated air into the carburetor to thoroughly vaporize the liquid fuel. The Harding Patent, as the other previously-mentioned patents, requires prior permanent installation of a heating device on the carburetor.
The Lee U.S. Pat. No. 3,394,243 shows a magnetically attachable crank case heater which uses a commercial power source. The commercial power source may not be available out in the field.
None of the above patents show an arrangement or a device that can be used out in the field to heat the intake air and the carburetor when the vehicle containing the dead, cold engine does not have its own internal heating source or is not adapted to accept an external source of heat.